Chapter 2
Welcome to Darkwood Plantation
“What the hell!” Sabrina shouted aggressively as she honked the car horn and looked at her cell. “They said one p.m., it’s almost two. Where is everyone?”
I got out of the car and peered through the iron gates, trying to make out any signs of life behind it. All I could see were large oak trees that seemed to stretch out for miles. In the background, there was a large ten-columned portico connected to the main house. Even from the gate, it looked massive. The summer wind crept through the oak trees and gave me a slight chill.
“Why are you here, Arelia? You know it’s cursed. Sins always must be punished. They must be trapped and bound,” whispered the wind spirit, who, thanks to Grand-mere, I knew was named Bade.
I know to most people the whole spirit talking to them thing would have been extremely creepy and all, but I was pretty much used to it.
“You guys are really irritating. You know that, don’t you? Please leave me alone and tell your friends to, too. I just want to work. I don’t have time for this,” I forcefully hissed under my breath, so Sabrina wouldn’t hear.
“Work? Work is what the Devil wants you to do,” he continued. “Work until your fingers bleed and your skin is raw. Why are you ignoring me, Arelia? You can’t ignore us forever.”
“Yes I can,” I replied.
“You should turn back now,” he insisted.
“I don’t want to.” I headed towards Sabrina and ignored him. I felt him linger a bit longer and then take off.
“Oh thank God!” Sabrina exclaimed as a thin grey-haired man walked towards us from behind the gate.
“You haven’t been waiting long, have you?” he asked in a lazy soft drawl as he opened the gate. His dark skin was slightly moist from the summer humidity.
“If you call forever not long, then no,” snapped Sabrina rudely.
His large brown eyes filled with amusement at her blatant vulgarity. “My name’s Henri, I’m the staff manager. Who might you two lovely ladies be?”
“I’m Arelia LaRue, and this is Sabrina Richards,” I replied.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his wrinkled hand. I shook it, but Sabrina pretended not to see when it was her turn. “You can drive your car right up to the house and park it at the back.”
We got back into the car. “If he’s the manager, he could have at least picked a better outfit. He looks like Colonel Sanders,” said Sabrina.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe that’s the effect he’s going for. It is the South after all.”
The road leading up to Darkwood Plantation was lined with regal oaks that extended far enough down to scratch the top of my head. As we pulled up to the front of the house and got out of the car, Sabrina was in a state of shock.
“Can you believe this? It’s amazing!” The house in front of us was extraordinarily beautiful and intimidating with its looming white pillars and lush gardens. “It has three stories. The property has a swamp and a family cemetery as well,” she rattled on. “Can you imagine how much it takes to maintain this place? The LaPlantes are loaded, and I’m here to stake my claim.”
“What do you girls think?” asked Henri as he popped out from behind a tree.
“Are you kidding me? It’s gorgeous!” Sabrina cried ecstatically.
“Amazing.” I was unable to comprehend why anyone would want to own such a massive place.
“You ladies come right on in,” invited Henri.
“Of course, but I need help with my bags, Henri can you help me?” asked Sabrina reverting to baby talk. Whenever she wanted a favor from a man she spoke in baby talk, even if the man was pushing seventy.
Henri, being the gentleman he appeared to be, agreed. He didn’t even flinch when she opened the car trunk to reveal a seven piece Louis Vuitton travel set. It didn’t matter where Sabrina went; she always traveled with at least seven Louis pieces. Even that one time we tried to go camping. I hesitantly grabbed my duffel bag along with one of her suitcases and followed Henri up the five steps that led to the spacious, marble porch. Anxiety intensely gripped me for the first time in a long time. I don’t know what it was about this place. I knew the spirits were stronger here. What exactly did Bade mean by his little comments? I never let what the spirits said get in the way of my existence, but for some reason his words really got under my skin.
Henri opened the front door to reveal a broad hallway with a shiny, white marble floor. At the end of the long hall, there was a spiral staircase with delicate railings.
“I’ve tried to convince Daddy to get a spiral staircase in our home so many times, but he prefers the elevator. This is epic.” Sabrina immediately ran to the end of the hall to the staircase and started to drool over the fact that its railings were gilded in real gold.
The last room at the end of the hall was opened up to what I assumed was a ballroom. On one side of the massive room sat an antique grand piano with a harp by its side. The high ceilings were home to not two, but three crystal chandeliers.
“Ms. Mae, the summer help is here!” Henri shouted down an adjacent hallway.
“Bring them right on in here, I’m pulling the yam biscuits out of the oven,” replied a loud velvety voice.
“Ms. Mae is getting some snacks prepared for the guests, they should be arriving in a few hours,” explained Henri as he directed us into a spacious but surprisingly modern kitchen. Bending over the stove was a large woman who must have been around Grand-mere Bea’s age. She wore a green dress printed with tiny flowers. Her grey hair was tied up in an elegant bun, and despite her age, her golden skin was unwrinkled. As she looked up to greet us, her dark green eyes looked astonished.
“Hello girls,” she said calmly, “tell Ms. Mae your names.”
“This here is Sabrina, and this is Arelia,” offered Henri, before I had a chance to say anything. “I’ll give you girls a chance to talk. I have some preparations to do before the guests arrive. Ms. Mae will get you all set up.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Ms. Mae graciously extended her hand. When I reached out to shake it, I got the sensation that I knew her. From exactly where, I wasn’t sure, but she had an odd sense of familiarity about her. Her kind eyes looked into mine, and I was sure that she could read my mind. “We’ve been waiting to meet you for a long time Arelia,” she said, “and of course, you too, Sabrina.”
“Is there anything to drink around here?” Sabrina briskly interrupted. “It was a long drive, and I’m so thirsty.”
“Of course, I made a fresh batch of sweet tea.” Ms. Mae headed over to the corner of the kitchen where a small wooden table sat. She cordially handed each of us a glass filled with tea.
“This is so good,” said Sabrina, after taking a sip.
“It tastes just like Grand-mere Bea’s tea,” I agreed after savoring it.
“Kind of.” Sabrina filled up her glass again. After inhaling her third glass of tea, she was desperate to go to the bathroom. “Is there a bathroom around here?”
“Go down that hall, take a left, then a right,” advised Ms. Mae.
After Sabrina left the kitchen, Ms. Mae focused her attention on me. “So your stubborn Grand-mere finally let you come, did she?”
“How do you know Grand-mere Bea, and how do you know she didn’t want me to come to Darkwood?” I coolly asked, unsure of what she was implying.
“She didn’t even tell you about me, did she?” Ms. Mae predicted.
“Who are you?” I squirmed in utter discomfort.
“Take a closer look; I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” She leaned in towards me. I could smell her sweet tea infused breath.
“Okay, enough with the big mystery. Please just tell me who you are.” I was a bit freaked out, and at the same time morbidly curious. It’s like when you see a dead animal at the side of the road, half of you wants to throw up your lunch, but the other half wants to whip out your camera.
??
?I’m her sister,” she dramatically revealed. At that moment, it all became clear. Those eyes- they were exactly like Grand-mere Bea’s, just a different shade.
“You’re my aunt?” That was something I hadn’t expected.
“Great aunt,” she corrected. “Who do you think sent Sabrina that invitation? I knew she’d bring you along. That’s the only way your Grand-mere would let you see me.”
“How come I’ve never met you before, and why doesn’t Grand-mere Bea ever speak about you?” I asked.
“We had very big disagreement years ago and haven’t spoken since,” her eyes filled with genuine sorrow.
“Well it must have been a pretty bad fight, if you haven’t spoken for that long,” I pressed, hoping she would give me some answers.
“Well it was over you. I believe that is a pretty important reason,” she said.
“Over me- why would you guys fight over me?”
Ms. Mae hesitated for a minute and then continued. “You hear the spirits, don’t you Arelia? They talk to you directly even when you don’t call them, isn’t that right?”
“So? Everyone in New Orleans sees ghosts and talks to spirits,” I reasoned.
“No they don’t, child, most of them just pretend they do. Others have to tempt the spirits to do their bidding with bribes and offerings. Not you, you have been blessed.”
“Blessed?” I asked. “You think a bunch of spirits talking to me is blessed? What makes you think that?”
“When you were just a baby and your momma left you, your grand-mere was beside herself. She never wanted you to feel like you didn’t belong. She only wanted the best for you. I suggested that we make an offering to Erzulie, so you would be protected. In voodoo, we know her as the spirit of love. However, your grand-mere wasn’t so sure. You see, growing up, we saw many folks who messed with the spirits and got into a lot of trouble. Unlike your grand-mere, I always had a close relationship with the spirits because I never feared them. Bea, she’s always been scared as a mouse.”
“Go on,” I commanded, hoping she would finish before Sabrina got back.
“So one day while your grand-mere was at work and I was watching you, I decided to make an offering to Erzulie behind Bea’s back. For some reason, she took an extra liking to you and made it possible for you to be a part of her world. I suppose that was her way of protecting you. We didn’t find this out until you were two or so. You would talk to people who weren’t there and always had a way of getting what you wanted. Once your grand-mere was sick with a terrible flu, and you were so sad. You held her hand and told her that you could make it better. Within minutes, she was completely healed. You told us it was the spirits. Bea was confused because you were so young. Eventually, I admitted what I had done. She was furious and told me that I could never see you or talk to her again. I tried to explain that what I had done was for your own good, but she didn’t see it that way. She thought that I put you in danger.”
“Okay, let me get this straight. Basically, Erzulie took pity on me and decided to help me by making me into some sort of witch. How exactly has she helped me? Grand-mere and I barely scrape by month after month. It hasn’t exactly been easy. As for the spirits, they just mutter nonsense in my ears. They’ve been useless as well.” It wasn’t like me to get so confrontational with strangers, but Ms. Mae was really revealing a lot all at once.
“You haven’t let them help you, Arelia. Your gift has unlimited potential to help people, to help yourself. Of course, you can use it for evil, but I know you, and I know your grand-mere, and that is never going to happen.”
“I still don’t understand why Grand-mere never told me that you work here,” I hastily dug for more information.
“Your great great-great grand-mere worked for the LaPlante family, as did your great grand-mere. I continued the tradition while your grand-mere decided to move to the city,” she explained.
“That’s so weird that she would never tell me that.” I was frightened at the prospect that maybe grand-mere did know more about me than I did.
“Arelia, you have to check out the bathroom,” Sabrina rushed into the room out of breath, “and the dining room, it could seat over fifty people, the chairs are covered in velvet and cut in gold.”
“Really?” I tried to sound excited while my mind was still processing the information it had been given.
“I wonder what our bedrooms look like.” Sabrina turned towards Ms. Mae. “Can we see them?” For good measure, she threw in a, “please.”
“Of course, dear,” Ms. Mae agreed. “I’ll take you right to them after you read over this orientation guide.” She handed each of us a thin book labeled Summer Plan.
“There is a welcome ball tonight? No way!” Sabrina was beyond excited. “Oh my God! We have to dress in period costume like from the 1850s. That is so cool!” She sounded like she was going to be a guest at the ball rather than working at the ball.
“It’s not a formal ball, just a casual welcome dance for the guests, but of course, all workers need to be dressed up. You girls will be making sure the guests feel welcome. There will be professional servers, but I want you to talk to the guests, make sure they have everything they need. Read over the rest of the guide, so you can get a feel for what types of activities you will be doing for the next two months. Your uniforms and costumes are already laid out in your bedroom. Come with me, and I’ll take you to your room.” Ms. Mae promptly led us down the hallway and up the spiral staircase.
Climbing the stairs, I got the distinct feeling that someone was keenly watching us but brushed it off as paranoia. As Ms. Mae guided us to our room, my mind was racing. I had so many questions that I wanted to fire at her in rapid succession, but I knew that I shouldn’t in front of Sabrina. How would I be able to explain this bizarre situation to her when I didn’t understand it myself?
“So, we have to share a room. I hope it’s big enough,” Sabrina predictably interrupted my thoughts.
“The other rooms are for the other help, and of course the guests.” We followed her into a spacious bedroom decorated with a canopied antique four-poster bed. Two plush satin-covered chairs sat in front of an enormous antique dressing table, complete with an oval mirror gilded in gold. In one corner, there was a satin-covered couch, and in the other corner sat antique chests that were large enough to fit even the contents of all Sabrina’s suitcases.
“The view is amazing.” I was wholly mesmerized as I looked out of the four-pane window which had elaborate cream-colored lace curtains pushed to either side. The view spanned the entire property. In the distance, I could see the murky waters of Darkwood swamp as well as the silhouettes of graves in Darkwood cemetery. Despite the fact that the sun was shining, it felt as if there was a permanent gloom that lingered over the place.
“I am so jealous. This is way bigger and way more expensive than my room.” Sabrina lazily stretched herself out on the bed. Great, I had to share a bed with her. That meant I had to put up with her infamous snoring all summer. Of course, she claimed that she didn’t snore, but everyone says that.
“This room doesn’t have a bathroom, but there is one down to the hall to the right,” explained Ms. Mae. “I expect you girls to be down by eight and dressed in costume. Henri and I will meet you in the kitchen. The costumes are in that chest right there.” She pointed to a chest sitting in the corner of the room. “If you have any other questions, please ask me or Henri. I have to get going and check on dinner.”
Chapter 3
Erzulie